California oil spill: Pipeline found split open by divers, authorities say

The pipeline that caused a major oil spill off the coast of California earlier last week was split open and apparently dragged along the ocean floor, according to US media reports citing authorities.

Rebecca Ore, the Coast Guard Captian said that divers’ investigation determined that at a depth of nearly 4,000 feet, the oil pipeline was “laterally displaced” by 105 feet. However, no reason for this shift was revealed.

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Captian Ore added that a cut of nearly 13 inches was discovered in the underwater pipeline.

CEO of Amplify, the company responsible for the pipeline, Martyn Willsher said that “the pipeline has essentially been pulled like a bow string. And so at its widest point, it is 105 feet away from where it was”, according to reports from Associated Press.

A day before the announcement, officials said they suspected that the oil spill could have been caused by a ship’s anchor, however, no confirmation about the potential cause was given by on Tuesday.

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The spill sent up to 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude into the ocean off Huntington Beach, and it then washed onto miles of beaches and protected marshland.

The beaches could remain closed for weeks or longer, a major hit to the local economy. Coastal fisheries in the area are closed to commercial and recreational fishing.

Beta Operating Company, which is a subsidiary arm of Houston-based Amplify Energy, is suspected to be a trigger source for one of the largest oil spills recorded off the coast of California. According to media reports referring to regulatory records, the organisation has been cited 72 times for safety and environmental violations that could directly block its drilling operations.

Since 1980, Beta Operating Co. has been cited 125 times, according to records from the United States Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. However, the details about each isolated incident that led to a potential violation have not been highlighted in the records, according to reports from Associated Press.